Line indicator



.April 16, 1940.

B.E.VAN ALSTYNE LINE INDICATOR Filed Sept. 20) 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

jam 12E. [@Q'JTY/VE Patented Apr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE 2,197,164 LINE mmon'ron Bonnie E. Van Alstyne, San Francisco, Calif.

Application September 20, 1938, Serial No. 230,844

4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in a line indicator, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

I In my present invention a different form of clip is used and this will permit the guide to be disv posed adjacent to the edge of the book.

A further object of my invention is to provide a line indicator Whichmay be attached to a notebook for holding the book in an upright position and for also indicating the line to be copied. The device may be secured to a sidewise opening book 3 when it is desired to copy information from the book. When the device is secured to a sidewise opening book, it maybe attached to a single leaf of the book rather than to the cover and this will permit the page to be turned while the device is still attached thereto. The line indicator is slidable on a guide and when the page is turned, the indicator may be moved to the top of the guide and swung over to the other side and thus be used for copying information from the other side of the page. In this way, the device may be attached to one page at a time and will permit both sides of the page to be copied without the necessity of removing the device from the page.

The line indicator has an extension that may be secured thereto when it is desired to-copy information from a large chart or sheet. When a large chart is used, the device is attached to the back of a notebook and the notebook back also carries an arm that supports the back of the chart and aids in holding it in proper position.

Other objects and advantageswill appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. a

My inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, showing the device attached to a notebook;

Figure 2 is a front elevation, showing the device attached to a page of a sidewise opening book;

Figure 3 is anenlarged plan view of a portion of the device, portions being broken. away for clarty; a

I Figure 4 is a section along the line 5-4 Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a section along the line 5--5 of Figure 3; Figure 6 shows the device when used in supporting a large chart or sheet;

Figure '7 is a rear view of the chart-supporting member; Y

Figure 8 is an end view of Figure '7 showing the clip attached to the device; and

Figure 9 is a section along the line 9-9 of Figure6. v

In carrying out my'invention, I provide a supporting member I and this member carries a guide bar 2 which is hollow. Figure 4 shows how the support and guide bar may be constructedfrom a single piece of material. has recesses 3 therein for receiving spring clips 4. The clips have enlarged portions 5 received in the guide bar 2. The enlarged portions 5 have shoulders 5a bearing against the side 2a of the The guide bar guide bar and also have tongues 52) receivable in slots 6 inthe side 21). A tongue 1 is bent upwardly and bears against an ofi-set portion 8 on a rod 9 for holding the rod against the side 2a.

Aleai spring l0 normally holds the clip 4 up against the rod 9 and this will keep the clip in open position, see Figure 4.. The clips' l have their ends curved upwardly to more readily receive material.

The rod 9 constitutes means for swinging the clips into clamping position against the support 1; The lower end of the rod has a handle 9a bent at right-angles thereto and extending through a slot H in the guide bar 2. The rod 9 is held againstthe side Wall M by the tongues l and against the top wall by the clips 4 which in turn are supported by the springs It). The oiT-set portions 8 also are normally held in contact with the top wall of the guide bar. Figure 4 shows the normal position of the off-set portions 8 and the clips 4. A swinging of the handle 90. through an arc of 90"will cause the rod 9 to bear against the top wall of the guide 2 and will cause the off-set portions 8 to swing away from the top wall and move the free ends of the clip 4 against the support i, the clip fulcruming about its tongues 5b during this movement. The springs It will be compressed during this movement. The arm 9a is swung beyond dead center and will remain in this position until released. The springs it will return the clips 6 to open position as soon as the arm 9a is again swung into .a

parallel relation with respect to the support I. The slot I I extends into the top wall of the guide 2, see Figure 2, and the end of the slot acts as a stop for limiting further clockwise rotation of the arm 9a when the arm is moved a slight distance beyond a substantially vertical position with respect to the support. If desired, the support may be provided with roughened areas I2 that will cooperate with roughened surfaces I3 on the undersides of the clips. This will increase the gripping efiect of the device on a notebook or a page.

Figure 1 shows the device applied to a notebook indicated generally at l4. The support I is placed on the outer surface of one of the notebook covers l5, and the clips 4 engage with the opposite surface of the same cover when the handle 9a is swung into operative position. The

back cover l5 of the notebook is held in a substantially vertical position to a supporting surface It by means of a link I! that has its end l8 bent at right angles and removably received in' aligned openings IS in the lower end of the guide 2, see Figure 3. The free end of the link I? is bent at 20 and is journalled in two slots 2| provided in a clip 22. Figure 1 shows the clip 22 removably secured to the notebook cover l5. The notebook and the device will assume the position shown in Figure 1.

The line indicator comprises a sleeve 23 that is slidably mounted on the guide 2. Figure 4 shows the sleeve extending around four sides of the guide. A leaf spring 24, see Figure 2, is carried by the sleeve and frictionally engages with one side of the guide bar. The sleeve carries a handle 25 and an arm 26 pivots about the handle and carriesa line indicator 21. A telescoping member 28 is slidably mounted on the line indicator and the line indicator has an extension 29 that constitutes a handle. The line indicator may be moved from line to line by the handle 29 and the member 28 may be extended, if desired.

Figure 2 shows the guide bar 2 extending a considerable distance above the upper edge of the support I. This'will permit the line indicator to be moved to the top of the sidewise opening book or notebook, if desired. The device is shown attached to a sidewise opening book 30 in Figure 2. The device may be attached to the cover 3| of the book if the thickness of the pages under the line indicator is not greater than the length of the pivoted arm 26. I have shown the device attached to one of the pages 32 of the book. The telescoping member 28 may be moved for extending the overall length of the line indicator over the adjacent page 32' of the book, if desired. The extension 28 can also be used when copying from a magazine column when the column is beyond the end of the line indicator 21. When the device is attached to the page 32 of the book, the line indicator may be used for copying information from the page and then if it is desired to copy data from the opposite side of the page, the page may be turned and it will carry the device therewith. Before the page is turned, the sleeve 23 is moved to the top of the guide 2 and then the arm 26 is swung so as to carry the line indicator 2! over the top of the guide and down onto the other side. When now the page is turned, the line indicator can be used for following the copy, line by line on the opposite side of the page. After the opposite side of page 32 is copied, the device may be removed from the page and secured to the next page. The link l1 may be removed from the device when copying from a sidewise opening book.

In Figures 6 to 9 inclusive, I show the device ures 7 and 8.

double bend 31 so as to position the bar against adapted for copying data from a large chart or sheet of paper. The notebook is shown at l4 and the device is clamped to the covers of the notebook in the same manner as already indi-.

cated. All of the pages of the notebook are turned so as to overlie only the rear cover and this will permit a chart 33 to be placed on the notebook cover and be clamped in position by the clips 4. The arm 9a is shown swung into operative position.

The portion of the sheet 33 that extends beyond the notebook cover is supported on its rear surface by a bar 34 that is slidably received in a guide 35 which in turn is secured to a clip 36. The'clip and guide are shown in full size in Fig- The bar 34 is provided with a the back of the sheet 33 as shown in Figure 9. The clip 36 is shown secured to the notebook cover so as to dispose the bar guide 35 at the rear of the cover. The clipmay be secured directly to the support I if desired, as shown in Figure 8. The clip 36 has spring qualities that yieldingly hold the bar in adjusted position on the notebook cover or support I. The bar may also be adjusted longitudinally in the guide 35.

The line indicator 2.! carries the telescoping member 28 and this member is extended beyond the end of the indicator and receives an extension bar 38, see Figures 6 and 9. The bar 38 cooperates with the line indicator 2'! to form an elongated line indicator that will reach across the entire width of the sheet 33. The sleeve 23 is moved along the guide 2 in the usual manner to raise and lower the extended line indicator. I

As a further means of permitting a person to copy data from only a single column 39 on the sheet 33, I provide an auxiliary line indicator 40 that has clips 4| designed to straddle the line indicator 21, the telescoping member 28, or the extension bar- 38 in the manner shown in Figures 6 and 9. The auxiliary line indicator has a horizontal portion 42 which extends .across the width of a column 39 and has a vertical portion 43 that will conceal the data in-the adjoining column and thus prevent it from becoming accidentally copied. The operation of the structure shown in Figure 6 will be clearly apparent from this description. The auxiliary line indicator or column guide 4!) may be reversed in its position, if desired.

It is possible to place a large sheet so that its longer edge is in a vertical position rather than a horizontal one. In this case, the clip 38 could be secured to the lower edge of the notebook cover so that the guide 35 would be on the front face ofthe cover. The bar 34 would extend upwardly along the front face of the notebook cover when the clip was secured thereto so as to support the full height of the sheet. The bar 34 would be placed in the guide 35 so as to position the bent portion 31 above the notebook. The line indicator could be moved to the top of the guide bar 2 and then the arm 21 could be swung into a position. above the sleeve 24 and thus permit copying to be done on a'portion of the sheet disposed above the'top of the guide bar.

I claim: 1. A line indicator designed to be attached to a page of a sidewise opening book and comprise inging a supporting member adapted to contact with one face of the page and having a guide bar adapted to contact with an edge, clips carried by the bar, manually actuated means for I by both sides of the page may be copied without the necessity of removing the line indicator.

2. The a combination with two semi-rigid hinged members, a line indicator comprising a guide bar having clips/for removably securing it to one of themembers, a link connected to the .bar, a clip'secured to the free end of the link and secured tolthe other member for holding I the .two members in a tented position, said firstnamed clips being adapted to hold a large sheet of "paper to the first-mentioned hinged member, an auxiliary clipsecured to the same hinged member and carrying a guide, a bar supported by the guide for in turn supporting the back of the large sheet, a sleeve slidable on the guide bar, an arm pivoted thereto, a line indicating member carried by the arm, an extension .slidable on the line indicating member, and a bar carried by the extension.

3. The combination with two semi-rigid hinged members, a line indicator comprising a guide bar having clips for removably securing it to I one clip secured to the free end of the link and secured to the other member forholding the two members in a tented position, said first-named clips being adapted to hold a large sheet of paper to thefirst-mntioned hinged member, an:

auxiliary clip secured to the same hinged member. and carrying a guide, a bar supported by the of themembers, a link connected to the bar, a

guide'for in turn supporting the back of the large sheet, a sleeve slidable on the guide bar, an arm pivoted thereto, a line indicating member carried by the arm, an extension slidable on the .line indicating member, and a bar carried by the extension, an auxiliary line and column indicator adjustable along the line indicating mem ber, extension, or last-named bar.

4. The combination with two semi-rigid hinged members, of a lineindicator comprising a guide bar, means for seeming the bar to one of the members, a link operatively connected to the bar and having means for removably secure ing its freeend to the other member for holding the two in a tented position, said first-named means being adapted to hold a large sheet to the first-mentioned hinged member, an auxiliary clip secured tothe same hinged member and carrying a bar for supporting the back of the large sheet, and a line indicator for the sheet and slidable along the guide bar.

BONNIE E. VAN ALSTYNE. 2-0 

